Prior to the emergence of the petrochemical industry, wood distillation was the primary source of industrially important organic chemicals, but most wood distillation plants were closed by 1950. A resurgence in interest in wood distillation products arose in the late 1900's, as efforts were focused on renewable energy sources as an alternative to petroleum (Gade 2010). Much of this renewed interest has been in the use of fast pyrolysis to produce bio-oil, or “bio-crude.” In this process, biomass of small particle size is rapidly heated (1-2 sec), at high temperature (500° C.), and the vapor is rapidly cooled, to yield ˜70% liquid bio-oil. The bio-oil is an acidic, highly oxygenated, product that is subject to aging and must be further refined to produce satisfactory liquid fuels. To date, no large-scale commercialization of bio-oil or other integrated plant to economically make bio-fuel has been achieved.